Format and Template for Reports Submitted by PIA National Liaisons for Inclusion in The

Committee Name:PIA National Business Issues Committee (BIC)

Committee Members: Chair, Rich Biggs (WA), Vice-Chair, Doug Finn (MI)

Staff Liaison(s): Pat Borowski; David Eppstein

Committee Charge: Responsible for association: (a.) policy, projects, information/education and advocacy of/for (b.) the business; operations; technical and technology (c.) requirements, needs and/or challenges (d.) important to PIA agency members.

Executive Summary: This provides a summarized update of BIC activities over the last 6-months. Please refer to if you wish further details and/or the full reports and WG results.

Committee Process and Philosophy:BIC serves to preserve the value, business and open/equal access to competitive success for PIA members in the business of insurance – and to do this – we must work and share together. Therefore, BIC is the forum in which and has the membershipthat meet and address the details of the business of insurance head-on for the benefit of PIA members.

BIC has and continues to deliberately include PIA Affiliates’ expert staff to work as a team with PIA National staff, because these matters need information, education and advocacy actions effected for all members and at the national and state-by-state level. To better manage the extraordinary broad scope of the issues, BIC organizesits work into four issue-segment areas: (a.) BIC WG on Ecommerce/Cyber; (b.) BIC WG on Technical and Technology; (c.) BIC WG on The Business of NFIP; and (d.) BIC WG on the Operations & Markets of Agencies. BIC also manages the WGs’ progress, content and the collective/inter-related needs of the BIC objectives through a BIC All Chairs WG.

Each WG is chaired by a BIC member. BIC members select their primary WG (where they are expected to bring active expertise to shape content) and a secondary WG (where they are a sounding-board for the nature of deliverables). BIC uses both the Spring and Fall meetings to fully vet their issue and project plans to assess the value and success of what has been accomplished and to hone what will be addressed going forward. Hence the outcomes of the September 2012 meeting developed the plan of proposed work for this year.

Working together as both individual WGs and then coming together as a BIC chairs group, BIC develops their work plan, divides the stages/segments of their projects by quarter (or demand of the issue) and every two months issues a written update/progress report which is shared with leadership and posted in the BIC Committee Room, inviting comments.

Objectives (goals) and Strategies:

(a.) BIC WG Ecommerce/Cyber – Create a resource and reference section on PIAnet that informs, updates and discusses the various challenges of and options in Ecommerce/Cyber/Security activities and coverages from the perspective and need of PIA members.

(b.) BIC WG Technical/Technology – Report, address and advocate to/for PIA members on major challenges and competing forces on critical issues in this area. As demonstrated by PIA’s activities on Certificates of Insurance, this may include pressing for legislative and/or regulatory changes (at national and state-by-state level).

(c.) BIC WG on The Business of NFIP–Collects hands-on experiences of PIA members dealing with NFIP; assesses the many changes (proposed & issued) to/for NFIP; actively advocates presses for prescribed changes/improvements to NFIP and then reports and provides guidance/explanation on NFIP and agencies practices to follow.

(d.) BIC WG on the Operations & Markets of Agencies – Alert to, addresses and if needed advocates on critical insurance, markets and businesspractices/matters.PIA’s activities in the area of agency agreements are a prime example of this.

Summaries of BIC Full Committee Meetings[6 months, chronological]:

September 2012 - Developed preliminary body of issues from which a draft work plan was developed.

December 2012 – Further refined and proposed issue & project plan was presented, discussed, and agreed to by the BIC members.

January 2013 – As charged from the December meeting, BIC chairs took the approved work plan and provided the further project segment breakdowns, details of what was to be accomplished in each project segment, and included suggested timing for progress in each WG area. BIC members again reviewed and approved this more detailed BIC plan as their Committee central “touch-stone,” to be modified as necessary. This also formed their approved report to PIA national EXCOM for their January Committee meeting which includes review/discussion of PIA Committee activities and progress to date and that proposed.

BIC Working Group, Task Force and Subcommittee Meetings & Summary of Activities:

BIC Chairs’ NOTE: Please regularly follow the status and content of BIC issues regularly reported to youthrough the (1.) weekly PIA Newsline; (2.) related articles in each issue of PIA Connection; (3.) posted in several existing resources areas on PIAnet (which each WG is revising and improving); (4.) first posted for PIA leadership review and invites your comments under its BIC Committee Room under the PIA Leadership areas in PIAnet; (5.) summarized in leadership reports such as this; and (6.) by our BIC members’ outreaches at their affiliate and national meetings, i.e. member-to-member.

BIC All Chairs WG–Develops, reports, evaluates, updates/modifies and creates the actual work and progress being made on the BIC agreed to work plan and its outcomes/deliverables, and then provides detailed update/progress reports on same to leadership. This addressed by WG, as well as by overall/inter-related needs of BIC objectives/ assignments.

Met: November 2012, January 2013, February 2013 & March 2013.

BIC WG Ecommerce/Cyber – Identified and defined the different segments of information needs of PIA members in this area, created the structure and layout for the PIAnet resource sections, and has begun to winnow through the massive and still rapidly expanding mount of “expert” commentaries, HOW-TO information, practice guidance and discussion of insurance coverage published materials to zero in on: what is sound and of value to members; what purpose selected information serves; and how to present this to members in a highly summarized, but compelling fashion from which members may “dig deeper” into linked more detailed references/resources for each reference.

Met: December 2012, January 2013, February 2013 & March 2013.

BIC WG on Technical and Technology–Specific issues being addressed and on which we are making progress: (1.) Certificates of Insurance (the issue that keeps on giving) and Insurance Binders working with ACORD and NCOIL; (2.) E-signature standards working with ACORD; (3.) E-proof-of-insurance working with PIA Affiliates; (4.) Insurance forms/coverages working with ISO, ACORD, NCCI, carriers etc., and (5.) addressing FCC’s efforts to take back control of Internet domain charters and oversight, as FCC has done in all other broadcasting mediums (and had at the beginnings of the Internet, but then turned over to private sector competition. The question is – who/what will control and qualify charters and exclusive rights/use to dot-domain for insurance and banking (i.e. .insurance or .banking). Meet, greet and assess with the four lead purveyors petitioning FCC for these rights.

Met: September 2012 through currentthe WG met monthly and sometimes weekly. Timing, frequency and those participating are driven by the schedule of related outside meetings, submissions, public comments etc. driven by the forces pushing the particular issue.

BIC WG on The Business of NFIP– The primary focus has been to work with the Flood Insurance Producers National Committee (FIPNC), IBHS Flood Insurance Committee (most of the WYOs) and FEMA/NFIP on several matters: (a.) Flood events& claims from Isaac, Sandy and the 2011 mid-western floods; (b.) functional and procedural challenges and improvements that become obvious through these claims’ events; (c.) the most challenging of all suggesting how and then understanding how FEMA/NFIP is effecting the reform changes from HR 5740 and Bitters-Waters (AKA - BW12). This has demanded daily email exchanges between & among members of the WG; monthly and sometimes weekly calls/discussions among the WG members; twice-weekly phone conference with FEMA/NFIP; reviewing all new NFIP bulletins to assure their accuracy and clarity – and if not advising them of needed changes and/or posing questions to gain better understanding – and much more.

Bottom-line: 1. All these NFIP-related areas are constantly affecting each other, causing NFIP to issue a great many changes, revisions, rescinding some bulletin and adding to others previously issued. 2. There are many differing and divided views among Members of Congress about whether or not FEMA/NFIP should continue – and if not then having the federal government step away from flood insurance and handing it over to the private sector insurance industry. (And yes, there are insurance industry interests that are advising Congress it is possible for the private insurance sector to do this!?!). 3. All this creates a highly confused and volatile situation – and we implore PIA Affiliates and members to please work with the BIC NFIP WG and following our reporting in order to keep abreast.

Met: As a complete WG, once and sometimes twice a-month (September 2012 to current) – and as WG leaders – emailing multi-times every day!

BIC WG on the Operations & Markets of Agencies:The WG strives to (a.) inform, educate, and guide for/to convey better understanding of the details and needs of a current issue-challenges in this area; (b.) more successfully communicates this to primary (but not exclusively) audiences of PIA member-agencies, Affiliates and key agency business partners (in one-on-one, collective and/or public efforts); and (c.) create a dynamic (updated/expanded) information resource and reference (with assistance services) repository for the better knowledge and practices of and for PIA members’ fundamental business purpose, i.e. the unchallenged ownership, control and added value of all the agency/business assets, most particularly their “insurance agency book of business.” This quarter the WG is addressing: an updated series on agency termination process; understanding the role lower interest/income earnings is playing in carrier capacity; and Learn-at-Lunch sessions on agency agreements in conjunction with participating PIA Affiliates that offer these to their members.

Met: January, February and March 2013.

Action Items for ExCom or Board Consideration: At this writing, none.

Revised: 02/28/13